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Reporter lands job, issues press release and—gets fired

Kristopher Brooks was fired from his reporting job before he even started—and it’s the result of a press release.

This week, Brooks landed a reporting job with the Wilmington (Del.) News Journal. Excited about the gig, Brooks wrote a press release announcing his career move and published it on his Tumblr and WordPress accounts. It noted that his first day was Apr. 23. The press release caught the attention of media blogger Jim Romenesko, who interviewed Brooks and published a post on the topic.

“Phil Freedman, the News Journal's local editor, called and said the newspaper is rescinding its job offer. I was being fired for using the company's logo on my personal blog and quoting the executive editor from my job offer letter.

“I was at a loss for words. When I finally spoke I said, ‘Well, can I just take it down? I know Romenesko's cell number. I can have him take it down, I'll take mine down, this never happened.’

“Freedman said the decision was out of his hands and that the final axe came from the publisher, HR and corporate.”